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HI-IQ™ Ventilator

This is what the EPA says about ventilation:

"Good ventilation is important because it protects both your health and your home. Good ventilation protects you and your family from unpleasant odors, irritating pollutants, and potentially dangerous gases. Well-planned ventilation (our emphasis) also helps prevent the growth of mold and mildew, which can cause allergic reactions and aggravate lung diseases such as asthma."

"High relative humidity is the primary factor encouraging biological agents to grow and be released into the air."

Unlike the (HRV) Heat Recovery Ventilator (or the ERV) which is effective only in the winter because it can double the latent load in spring, summer, and fall, the Smartvent, Inc. HI-IQ™ is not only effective in spring and fall, but can operate in summer and winter as well throughout the US.

The Building Science Corporation states "the latent load problem under part-load conditions during spring and fall in humid climates is becoming more serious as the typical building envelope and mechanical equipment evolve."

The Smartvent home ventilator's performance yields more hours per year of effective operation than other DOAS (Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems) strategies, with an installed cost of about 1/3rd other ventilation products. Because of its versatile wallswitch modes of selection, homeowner friendliness is unmatched.

Smartvent Home Ventilator Features:

1. 24 hour watchdog looking for quality outdoor air to freshen home, help control mold & mildew.
2. Pressurize the home, block outgassings of building materials, helps with carbon monoxide.
3. Air flow up to 4 times other strategies.
4. More than 25 modes of operation, easily configured with the simple wallswitch.
5. No add-on accessories needed to improve perfomance.
6. No maintenance other than filter change or cleaning.
7. Fast, easy installation. No need to hunt down any parts.
8. Arrives as complete kit with all parts needed for installation. Kit includes outdoor air intake, insect screen, gasket, duct, connectors, fasteners, indoor filter grille, wall switch, connector & wire to wall switch, power cord.
9. Installed cost is 1/3 of the ERV/ HRV.
10. Fast installation.
11. Quiet. Doesn't need to be isolation mounted.
12. Exceeds all code requirements for sound (about 1 sone) and fan energy (40 watts when running).
13. The HI-IQ™ has an additional controlled output, making capacity unlimited.

For comparision with an HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilator), Smartvent's HI-IQ™ fan capacity is up to 10 times the usual HRV. HRVs & ERVs require maintenance. Other than cleaning or replacing the filter twice a year, maintenance is not an issue with the HI-IQ™.

A growing number of building scientists now recognize that slightly pressurizing the living space is useful for IAQ and the building envelope as well.

Rather than being neutral or negative in air flow like the HRV, the HI-IQ™ attempts to very slightly pressurize the home, to overcome the negative pressure that exists from a home's natural chimney effect and bath & kitchen exhausts.

Negative pressure in a home has several undesirable effects. Outgassings from particleboard are more likely to be present, it may cause backdrafting of combustion equipment, and soil gases such as methane or radon may be drawn in the home.

HRV is brain dead regarding moisture, and can't (shouldn't) operate in seasons that have elevated moisture, ie., spring, summer, and fall.

Some schemes use humidistats and dehumidistats. These are not very effective.

The dehumidistat (to take out humidity) can be used only in winter when inside and outside air is nearly always quite dry. (Manufacturer's instructions tell you to turn it off the rest of the year.)

Using a humidistat (to add humidity) is said to be used in other seasons (spring, summer & fall) when indoor humidity gets too low. However indoor humidity is almost never too low during those seasons because outdoor moisture levels will be elevated a substantial portion of time.

Some schemes have timers, but a timer is just as likely to produce mold encouraging moisture levels as improve IAQ.

Because of its ability to watch for elevated (or too little) moisture in outdoor air, and also direct incoming air into the HVAC unit when needed, this vapor pressure based ventilator is effective just about year round. Becuase its high fan capacity is about 4 times other types of ventilators, the Smartvent HI-IQ™ even meets the ASHRAE 62.2 standard for intermittent ventilation.

Several states already mandate that if a home's tightness exceeds a certain level, ventilation is required, and someday, it is likely all homes will have a controlled outdoor air supply. As the EPA stated, well-planned ventilation helps prevent the growth of mold and mildew.

Because the Smartvent's performance, versatility, and cost is unmatched, architects, engineers, and home inspectors across the country now specify Smartvent's patented vapor pressure ventilator.

Bringing in Outside Air is a Complex Problem

A commercial DOAS (dedicated outdoor air system) may have precooling coils, preheat coils, dehumidification coils, run-around, variable speed drives, variable flow dampers, high quality filtration, and then all the maintenance and overhead of such a system. Focus of these elaborate systems is not temperature moderation, but moisture moderation. Their complexity arises from coping with not only hourly variation, but also the massive seasonal variation of vapor pressure.

Our package simplifies the process of bringing in outdoor air, and it's affordable.

In ventilating his home, the homeowner ought to bring in as much outdoor air as he can, as often as possible, and still maintain his level of comfort in the process.

With our vapor pressure based device, it's quite simple for the homeowner to make seasonal changes, to decide, for instance, in the winter, he can tolerate a wider range (in this case usually drier air). Whereas in the summer he may decide a more narrow range is appropriate.

If a homeowner thinks he wants to make a change (he has six wallswitch selectable modes of operation), and since he gets the result instantly, the capability is in his hands to decide what conditions and how much outdoor air he is comfortable with. Keep in mind he also has the versatility to make the HI-IQ™ run whenever the HVAC runs, and simultaneously, perform one of the vapor pressure ventilation routines, all this without calling an engineer.

While drawing in air, the HI-IQ™ continuously measures vapor pressure. If outside air remains within the selected range the fans continue to run. If outside the selected range, the HI-IQ™ turns fans off and waits until conditions improve.

There are many fan rates, depending on the wallplate selection and outdoor conditions, with capacity varying from 110 CFM to over 450 CFM.

In an expensive commercial DOAS system, moisture is primary, temperature is secondary, so that's where we've put the focus. And we've also focused on installed cost.Our kit is complete with outdoor air intake, indoor grille, duct, power cord, wallswitch, even fasteners, you don't need to make a list of parts to hunt down from hvac and electrical supply houses. You arrive at site with all parts needed for installation, and your installed cost will be far less than other systems.

The Smartvent HI-IQ™ is an affordable DOAS system. It has the highest capacity, is the most versatile, and operates just about year round, throughout the country.

Smartvent, Inc.
3255 Cimarron Drive
Conway, AR 72032

Web: http://www.smartvent.net
Phone: 501-329-4915
E-mail: sales@smartvent.net